Former Butler basketball star Andrew Smith is a fighter. Smith, who made two Final Fours as a Bulldog in 2010 and 2011, was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma in January 2014. After beating the cancer, Smith was once again diagnosed with the disease in May.

You don’t know me (yet), but I am the 24-year old wife of the 25-year old man you are saving. You don’t know us or our story, but I want you to know that our journey to this day, to this transplant, to you has been long awaited.

All I know about you is your age, your gender, and that you either live or have lived in Europe at some point in your young life. I know that you are a 20-year old male with a beautiful and selfless soul. I know that your priorities are so much greater than mine were when I was 20-years old.”

Brad Stevens, Smith’s former head coach, found time to visit Andrew on Tuesday while his Boston Celtics were in Indianapolis to face the Pacers.

“I’ve seen Andrew go through a lot of really tough stuff over the last two years and that son of a gun always responds,” Stevens said. “He’s as tough as they come and I have no doubt that he’ll respond again.

Our most encouraging thoughts are certainly with the Smith family. #AndrewSmithStrong

Joe Boozell has been a college basketball writer for NCAA.com since 2015. His work has also appeared in Bleacher Report, FOXSports.com and NBA.com. Joe’s claim to fame since joining NCAA.com: he’s predicted the correct national championship game twice… and picked the wrong winner both times. Growing up, Joe squared off against both Anthony Davis and Frank Kaminsky in the Chicagoland basketball scene. You can imagine how that went.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.